Comments on Peer Review Bulletin Reveal Strong Opposition

A majority of the near 200 comments received by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on its Draft Peer Review Bulletin opposed the proposal, calling for its complete withdrawal.

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Representatives Increase Efforts to put Congressional Research Reports Online

Members of the House of Representatives interested in public access are pushing for a bill to put all Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports online. This new push comes after the September expiration of a pilot program that provided hundreds of CRS reports to the public on the Internet.

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Workshop Reveals Flaws in Peer Review Bulletin

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) held an all day workshop Nov. 18 that brought together regulators, academics, industry and public interest groups to discuss the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) draft bulletin on peer review. By the end of the day, presenters and participants had expressed various concerns about the impact of the bulletin as currently written and uncovered fundamental flaws with the policy.

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Proposals to Lighten TRI Burden Likely to Reduce Information

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently initiated Phase II of a stakeholder dialogue to develop options for reducing the burden associated with reporting under the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). EPA is seeking reactions and comments on several burden reduction options outlined in an online white paper.

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Energy Provision Helps Whistleblowers

A small provision sponsored by Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) in the new Energy Policy Act (H.R. 6) would prohibit the Energy Department from reimbursing contractors defending themselves from wrongfully terminated or persecuted whistleblowers. Currently the government can reimburse contractor companies for their legal fees while whistleblowers must pay all expenses on their own. This encourages extended court battles where even after winning in court, a whistleblower could face appeal after appeal with the taxpayers footing the contactor's bill the entire way.

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Proposed ExxonMobil Plant to Test New Restrictions on Information

Mobile, Ala., appears to be the testing ground for new restrictions on energy information. Inquiries into a proposed natural gas plant will test if policies meant to increase security will actually compromise the public’s safety.

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NAS Holds Workshop on OMB Peer Review Standards

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has scheduled an all-day workshop on peer review for Nov. 18. The workshop is an effort to foster greater dialog on the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) recent draft bulletin proposing uniform standards for peer review throughout the federal government. According to a draft agenda, the speakers are predominately regulators and academics, with a few public interest groups and others also represented (though not all speakers have been confirmed). It has been reported that almost 80 people have already registered to participate in the workshop.

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Scientists Advise Self-Censorship

In an effort to avoid a system of government-imposed secrecy, a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) panel recently recommended biologists engage in a system of self-censorship. The panel advocated a process of review, at the university and federal levels, for research that could help terrorists make biological weapons.

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A Larger Sunset Proposed for Patriot Act

Several Senators troubled with the shroud of secrecy the government has put around its use of expanded surveillance powers granted under the US Patriot Act have proposed expanding the number of Patriot Act provisions that will automatically expire. Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Larry Craig (R-ID), Richard Durbin (D-IL), John Sununu (R-NH), and Harry Reid (D-NV) recently introduced the Patriot Oversight Restoration Act of 2003 (S. 1695) to the Senate. The bill would expand the US Patriot Act’s “sunset” provision.

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GAO Report Indicates Less FOIA Information Under Ashcroft

Federal agencies are limiting public access because of a 2001 memo from Attorney General John Ashcroft, according to a congressional watchdog agency. The General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report saying, a significant percentage of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) officers have reduced the amount of information available to the public because of Attorney General John Ashcroft’s infamous October 2001 memo. Ashcroft’s memo instructed agencies to exercise greater caution in disclosing information requested under FOIA.

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Jailed Whistleblower Files Appeal

After serving a 16-month sentence for exposing an email vulnerability to his company’s customers, Bret McDanel is appealing his conviction in an effort to clear his name and send a message that discussing flaws and vulnerabilities is acceptable. While working for Tornado Development, McDanel discovered the email flaw and reported it to the company. Six months after severing his employment with Tornado, McDanel discovered that the company had never fixed the vulnerability. McDanel then informed each email user of the Tornado system of the vulnerability in an email from “Secret Squirrel.”

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Federal Secrecy Includes State and Local Officials

A new report from the Democratic staff of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee has found that federal secrecy and information restrictions imposed following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, are preventing state and local officials from accessing important security information.

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First Data Quality Lawsuit Filed

The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), an anti-regulatory group, filed the first lawsuit under the Data Quality Act (DQA) against the White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP). The suit challenges a climate change report, “National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change,” and seeks to prevent its dissemination to the public.

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Senate Denied Information, Again

The Treasury Department is following in the Bush administration’s footsteps of refusing to provide Congress with requested information. The Bush administration has shown a consistent trend of refusing congressional requests for information including such matters as the energy task force; use of new powers granted under the Patriot Act; and the classified Saudi section of the 9/11 report.

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Bush Administration Ignores Whistleblowers

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) recently released statistics showing the government’s failure to act on a growing backlog of whistleblower cases. The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is the small federal office charged with reviewing whistleblower claims backlog of cases.

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EPA Requests Comments on Changes to TRI Reporting

The Environmental Protection Agency recently proposed several changes to the Form R under the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) in an attempt to better organize data collection, after receiving feedback from stakeholders.

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Critical Infrastructure Information Docket

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently finished receiving public comments on its proposed rule for the handling of Critical Infrastructure Information (CII). While the June 16th deadline for comments was over a month ago, DHS is still not providing access to the public comments it received, nor has the agency announced any plans to do so.

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Feedback Meeting on ECHO

On July 8th Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials from the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) met with various environmental and public interest groups to hear feedback on the Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) project. JP Suarez, the Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, chaired the meeting.

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EPA Refuses to Release RMP Data

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has denied OMB Watch’s request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for Executive Summaries of the Risk Management Plans (RMPs). This marks the first instance, of which OMB Watch is aware, that EPA has denied a request for information specifically collected to inform the public about homeland security risks they face.

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Another Court Denies Secrecy of Cheney Files

In a 2-1 ruling last Tuesday, a federal appeals court rejected Vice President Dick Cheney’s request to keep documents about his energy task force secret. The decision upholds a lower court ruling that ordered the limited release of documents in a discovery process. Justice Department lawyers defending Cheney then approached the D.C. Court of Appeals to halt that order. The Court of Appeals agreed with the lower courts ruling, stating that current laws would safeguard genuinely privileged information.

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